First Impressions / Mayo Chiki!

「もちろん、ベッドの上で」 (Mochiron, Beddo no Ue de)
“In Bed Of Course”

I’m still not feeling the drama behind the Subaru’s sense of duty to server as Kanade’s butler, nor the “stand by me” encouragement by Kinjirou’s late father Jirou (Miyashita Eiji), yet I don’t seem to mind one bit while watching this series. Talk about some clear oversight of screenplay in favor of personal entertainment from the romantic comedy-like antics. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d watch this show just for Subaru.

Subaru’s moments with Jirou are still a lot of fun to watch, as is Kanade’s meddling for her own amusement that doubles as my own. Unlike most romantic comedies, Mayo Chiki stands out simply because Subaru is quite different from our typical female lead. I mentioned last time that she’s not a typical tsundere, and this pool episode went on to reiterate that by showing how she doesn’t get all flustered and violent when Jirou touches her. In fact, she even initiates contact at times and regularly shows a lot of concern for his well-being, differentiating her from a tsundere even more. I’m admittedly not used to seeing a character like Subaru and find her forwardness with her feelings surprisingly awkward, making her difficult to classify as any of the standard archetypes. It’s as if she sees Jirou as her first friend even before she sees him as a guy, so she interacts with him in a much more indebted way. It’s also worth noting that she’s never hit Jirou after the first episode, even though she’s shown intent to do so, and that Jirou actually knocked her a second time already. She’s definitely an unconventional heroine for this type of anime.

In other areas, Mayo Chiki continues to be relatively generic, which includes switching to the tried and true lighthearted moment to break the sentimental mood at the very end. However, we did see the introduction of Subaru’s father/Kanade’s father’s personal butler, Nagare, who will go down as one of Fujiwara Keiji’s few fatherly roles where I’m not worried about him getting killed at some point. The sight of Nagare’s goofy doting side after he kicked Jirou’s ass was impressive though, in the sense that it was hard to even tell Keiji was voicing him. What makes him an amusing addition is the fact that he doesn’t like Jirou — not after he heard about him stripping his daughter and fondling her breasts anyway. It’s kind of unusual to have the father being more problematic than the girl in question, which adds a quirky twist to things. This includes the first time I’ve heard “yatsuzaki” (“rip limb from limb”) since Katanagatari, in a message passed along by Subaru.

So while the staged kidnapping to help Konoe overcome her fear of knives didn’t do much for me, I do like the fact that Kureha is actively involved in the mix but not showing any signs of stealing Subaru from Jirou. I really prefer the way things are now, where she acts as a catalyst of sorts between them — often from her own misunderstandings — and doubles as another potential target of Kanade’s games. In any case, the next episode looks like it’s going to trump this pool episode by a fair bit. I never thought I’d be saying that.

 

Preview

28 Comments

      2. Hayate is not a butler. It is just that there is no proper job description for what he does so they just call him a butler. Cooking, cheering, supporting, learning sure kill moves, learning puns, going to school, illegal gambling, fighting “Gun-them”, going against other anime chars, traveling run the world, getting your head bashed in everyone once in a while and have magic cast on you?? All the while being super dense about the Harem he is building…. guess since all the girls treat him nicely cause of love, he minds it normal that none of them really stands out??

        deafvader
        Reply

  3. The whole staged-kidnapping thing didn’t work for me either, but I suppose it did do some good: seemingly curing Subaru’s fear of knives, bringing Suzutsuki and her closer together, and showed how much Subaru cares for Jirou. Can’t argue with that in the end 🙂

    I love the role Suzutsuki plays in this show. It would be pretty dull if she wasn’t in it. Can’t wait to see the romance that buds between Jirou and Subaru, I would love to see her in her cute female form again (and with the feminine voice as well).

    Theta
    Reply

  7. Man I love Fridays (United States of Australia time)

    I have so much trouble deciding which series to start watching with out of the Thursday shows since I always try to leave the best for last. Mayo Chiki and Usagi Drop are generally the last two.

    Hrmmm
    Reply

  9. Mayo Chiki is fast becoming a comedy favorite this season. I actually find Kanade highly entertaining and somewhat complex, aside from the usual Subaru/Jirou moments. There was definitely a lack of depth in the serious undertones since everything played out to be a joke of sorts.

    Not that it bodes ill. Bring on the next episode! =D

    Owaranai
    Reply

  10. WOW, tht didnt take long….i mean, getting to the point where he’s cherished friend for life and also the whole ojousama getting a “I dont want to leave your side ” confession thingy….its still fun though. lawd them girls is SKINNY HAHAHAHA! some body give OJOUSAMA a Rib-sandwich STAT!!!!!

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

  13. 🙂
    This anime never fail to bring me a smile (i won’t say it a pure one). Haha, also when does people think Butler = bodyguard (seen in scared seven and this). I have a feeling they are being influenced by Hayate no Gotoku(speaking of which, are RC not going to blog it?)

    lkaze
    Reply

  16. hehehe When you mentioned troublesome fathers with a less so daughter I immediately thought of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. We’ll have to wait and see if he upgrades to Katana. I like the sensible heroines more. Subaru really started to stand out for me when they sat on the bench last episode and she tried to actually console Jirou by changing the subject when he said his mother and sister only stop when he bleeds because it messes up the place. LOL I love this series sense of dryness at times.

    Breedo
    Reply

  17. Poor Jirou. Even Kanade has the hotts for Subaru, and Subaru will never get with Jirou since she’s a butler (supreme loyalty to the family and all that), so Jirou’s never gonna get any love. Plus Subaru’s dad is an idiot.

    I hate the whole “set-up crisis” thing. Seriously, if someone did that to me in real life, I wouldn’t speak to them for like a month.

    Aex
    Reply

  18. Yeah, they have mock kidnappings like normal families have fire drills. WTH! Saying that this anime has no direction is an understatement – & the more I watch Jirou, the worst he gets. I’m with deafvader on Nagere. Just what kind of jacked up family is that. Comparing this with Hayate is just plain insulting. Hayate is a man’s man, while Jirou is a nose-bleeding pussy (when it comes to girls, WTH, hahahahaha)

    Megas
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *